By Scott B. Wong
Daily Bruin Staff
Ten UCLA Environmental Coalition members joined students from 58
other universities in the United States and England for a 24-hour
fast Tuesday, protesting U.S. corporations in Burma.
The southeast Asian country has been ruled by a military
government since 1988.
Students said the fast, which was held from midnight Tuesday to
midnight Wednesday, represented a way of connecting with the the
people of Burma.
“The symbolic impact of the fast is that people of Burma
are suffering tremendously,” said Kevin Rudiger, a a member
of EC and spokesman for the Free Burma Coalition.
“It is a small way to stay in solidarity with them and
bring attention to what’s going on,” he continued.
Rudiger, a second-year graduate student in urban planning, said
the important thing to remember is that students did not decide to
protest U.S. corporations on their own.
“This is coming from the democratic party in Burma,”
Rudiger said. “The National League for Democracy has called
repeatedly for corporations to pull out.”
A March 1 New York Times article prompted the nationwide fast.
The article stated the Burmese military regime is benefitting
financially from U.S. factories because many are jointly owned by
the military government.
At midday, one of the students fasting said she felt hungry
while passing by the food vendors.
“But it’s the least we could do,” said Kristen
Isaacson, a fourth-year international development studies student.
“It’s a small token to raise awareness and offer
support.”
Last week, EC members rallied for the UC Board of Regents to
stop investing in two U.S. corporations operating in Burma, Proctor
& Gamble and Halliburton, which manufactures hardware for oil
and gas pipelines.
Since the regents voted to divest from tobacco corporations in
January, students are pushing for the board to divest from
corporations in Burma as well.
“In the same way, they need to be socially responsible to
react to human rights violations in nations like Burma,”
Isaacson said.
Students are also lobbying to stop Unocal Oil Corporation, which
extracts and transports natural gas off Burma’s coast, from
doing business with the country’s regime. According to
Rudiger, the military has tried to raise money by selling off their
natural resources.
“If you economically choke off their funds, the military
regime will fall,” Isaacson said.
But according to its Web site, Unocal believes direct
involvement will more effectively strengthen emerging economies and
promote more open societies.
“These groups have resorted to spreading false and hurtful
allegations about Unocal and the Yadana natural gas project,”
the Web site stated. “Unocal does not defend the actions and
policies of the government of Burma. Our hope is that Burma will
develop a vital, democratic society built on a strong
economy.”
Despite Burma’s democratic party seizing 82 percent of the
seats in the parliament in the 1990 general elections, the military
regime annulled the election results and placed leader Aung San Suu
Kyi and hundreds of members of parliament under arrest.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, still remains
under house arrest.
Radio Free Asia, a U.S. government corporation which broadcasts
news to nations whose citizens lack an adequate source of
information, interviewed Rudiger Tuesday morning about the
nationwide fast.
“It’s very likely they know what’s going
on,” Rudiger said.
Other universities that participated in the 24-hour fast
included UC Berkeley, Harvard University and London School of
Economics.